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Local advertising isn’t quite shaping up as the bountiful year many had hoped for, but it’s still on pace to grow a healthy 3.2%, according to a new forecast released by Borrell Associates. Longer range, Borrell foresees local advertising growing at a 2.2% compound annual growth rate over the next five years. To see individual market forecasts, go to: https://borrellassociates.com/latest-news/.
The ad-tracking company’s initial forecast for 2024, issued last November, was 1.2 points higher. The downward adjustment was triggered by new information from Borrell’s principal sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Woods & Pool, D&B, IBIS World, and Borrell’s quarterly SMB Business Barometer.
“For the past three quarters, we haven’t seen much variation in SMBs’ attitudes about the economy and their plans to invest in advertising,” said Corey Elliott, executive vice president of Local Market Intelligence and Borrell’s chief forecaster. “They’re mostly neutral and slightly positive about the economy, but we’re still not seeing anything that would signal the bigger spring-back that many are hoping for.”
Since Q3 of last year and continuing through Q2 of this year, Borrell’s barometer survey has shown that a consistent 50% of SMBs consider it to be harder to sustain a small business than it was six months prior.
Overall, Borrell’s forecast predicts a good year. Here are highlights:
Local advertising is forecast to reach $148.9 billion, up 3.9% from 2023. The largest growth is forecast for online listings, which encompasses sites for cars, jobs, merchandise, real estate and services. Local